As an infant develops with age, the child is able to sit upright for short periods of time. To assist the infant in sitting upright, the child is often placed in a support device such as a high chair, a swing, a walker, a grocery cart or the like that has leg openings and some form of back and/or front support. Often these support devices are oversized and the infant will slip to one side or the other, ending up in an uncomfortable or even dangerous position. To secure the infant in these oversized support devices, various packing materials such as diapers, blankets or pillows are stuffed around the child to wedge them in the device. These packing materials are generally unsatisfactory and do not stay in position.
A number of patents concerned with support cushions for infants are known. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,567 issued Mar. 17, 1992, Kenoyer discloses a baby back support device to aid in learning to sit. The device straps about the infant's buttocks with a strap across the lap.
A cushioned seating device for use by infants in shopping carts is described by Childers in U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,250 issued Aug. 20, 1996. The device fastens around the infant's torso.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,749 issued Sep. 3, 1996, Reher et al. disclose an infant support seat and cushion combination.
Sowell et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,888 issued Oct. 21, 1997, describe a seat cover which conforms to a shopping cart to protect children riding therein.
Thus, it is an objective of the invention to provide secure support for an infant in a seating device. It is also an objective to provide a device that fits over the clothing and diapers of an infant, a device that is resistant to body fluids, and that is easy to put on and take off an infant.
Consequently, there is an unmet need for an infant torso support device that will securely hold an infant in an upright position in a highchair, swing, grocery cart, walker or similar device.